About

I believe that networked platforms will reconfigure society and business forever. I also believe that we’re barely at the start of this major transformation.

I build, research, consult and teach about networked platforms and networked business models. In this pursuit, I:

Write the blog Platform Thinking, which has been featured on leading media around the world and ranked among the top technology blogs globally on multiple occasions.

Actively engage in the design and implementation of platforms through CXO-level and board-level advisory at large traditional firms (large telecom, healthcare and media firms in US, Europe and Asia), and high growth startups (like Spotify, Skillshare).

Collaborate closely with MIT-based scientists Marshall Van Alstyne and Geoffrey Parker, on industry-focused research on platform economics. Van Alstyne and Parker are also co-creators of the two-sided market theory, a fundamental theory in the field of platform economics.

Teach audiences, ranging from CXOs and senior executives (MIT Media Labs, THNK Amsterdam) to research scientists (NUS-ISS) and business school students (INSEAD, UC Davis etc.), about the design and economics of platforms and network effects.

Advise startups through accelerators like 500 Startups in Silicon Valley.

Why Platforms?

In the age of Airbnb, Uber, Quora and Coursera, platforms are rapidly disrupting traditional industries. In a connected world, the platform approach is increasingly more important, and yet, poorly understood.

I am passionate about the potential of networked platforms to transform entire economies by connecting disparate resources with scattered needs. As the world gets more connected (and there’s no denying that fact), the systems that will evolve to harness these connections and create new forms of value will rely on network effects and platform economics.

While platforms are increasingly going to be important in a networked and connected world, they continue to be very poorly understood. Solving chicken and egg problems, scaling curation, designing new behavior and managing platform governance are business challenges that never existed in the industrial world.

As with any entrepreneurial endeavor, I believe that the best value is created at the intersection of high pain and high potential for impact. Explaining and using the platform thinking approach to solve important problems drives everything I do. A passion for such a specific pursuit stems from having been integrally involved in building platforms myself, and having seen them change the lives of entire communities.

Platform Thinking isn’t a topic, it’s a lens to see how the rules of business, society and organization change in a connected world. I’ve had the privilege of advising and working with executives, entrepreneurs and innovators in fields as diverse as healthcare, defense, civic planning, agriculture, entertainment, education and many more, using the lens of Platform Thinking to reframe and reimagine solutions.